SSS posts P25 billion in revenues in 2011

ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines - Social Security System (SSS) saw its net revenues jump 12% to P25.5 billion in 2011, on the back of intensified collection efforts and robust investment income.

In a statement, SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said 2011 was a "landmark year" for the agency in terms of financial performance and service delivery to members.

"Year-end net revenue of P25.5 billion is 12% higher than the P22.8 billion net income in 2010. Our moves towards more electronic and Internet-based transactions also resulted in more efficiency and better service to our members," he said.

The SSS reported collections of contributions stood at P86 billion, 8.4% higher than the P77 billion collected in 2010. This was attributed to the intensive marketing efforts made by SSS and expanding the range of its payment deadlines for contribution and loan remittances.

Of the total, P17.5 billion came from the employed sector. Contributions from household helpers, the self-employed and overseas workers showed the biggest volume growth, although the SSS did not give figures.

SSS benefits payments in 2011 reached P76 billion, 6.8% up from the P71 billion in benefit payouts in 2010. Most of the payments were for retirement and death benefit claims.

"It is worth noting that contribution collections outpaced benefit payments by P3.2 billion – the highest recorded since 2002. This is in step with our objectives of continually building up the Investment Reserve Fund and lengthening the actuarial life of the Social Security fund," de Quiros said.

The SSS saw its investment income grow by 7.2% to P30 billion in 2011, despite a low interest rate environment. Part of the income came from the penalty condonation program offered to employers for unremitted loan amortizations of their employees.

The agency also said there were significant improvements in its service delivery due to upgrades in its information technology infrastructure and by enabling electronic or Internet-based transactions.

"The SSS was able to achieve all these performance milestones without incurring large operating expenses. In fact, our 2011 OpEx totaled P7.5 billion, which was only 67 percent of our Charter limit and the lowest incurred in the past ten years," de Quiros said.